Parker's Question
by Rubyslippers89
Summary: Parker's got a question for Sophie. Short, fluffy oneshot. Mostly Sophie/Parker friendship, with mentions of Parker/Eliot.


Author's Note: Well, folks, here we go. I have clearly been spending too much time surfing cable rather than accomplishing something productive, because this is what sprung out of my mind instead of a history paper. Ah, the pleasures of college life, right? Anyway, this sprang to mind after _The Juror #6 Job_, when it occurred to me that Sophie had kind of taken Parker under her wing a bit. If Parker was willing to take her advice there, what else might Parker come to Sophie for? And voila, this little fluff bunny was born. I'm actually thinking of maybe making this a prologue to a slightly more serious Eliot/Parker full length fic, so let me know what you think, k?

Disclaimer: IF Leverage were mine I'd ditch the whole Hardison/Parker storyline before it got any ickier and I'd make sure Christian Kane took his shirt off for at least 5 minutes every episode.

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Sophie was not overly surprised when she glanced up from the script she was studying to find Parker perched, legs crossed, in the chair in her office. It was not particularly unusual to find Parker anywhere in the Leverage offices—she wandered where she pleased when she pleased. So no, Sophie was not surprised at all to find Parker staring at her from the visitor's chair. She was, however, a bit shocked at the question Parker opened with.

"How do you know if you're in a real relationship with a man?" Parker's head was tilted slightly to the left and her eyes were opened wide and innocently; clearly she wanted an honest answer. Sophie swallowed slowly and decided to go with it. After all, Parker very rarely did or said things with no purpose at all.

"Well, what makes you think that you are?"

"We've been having sex regularly. But I've done that before, this is different." Parker's voice was sure—she was positive that something was different with this man. Sophie was a little taken aback, unsure of exactly how to proceed with answering the question at this new revelation. She took a stab at it anyway.

"Do you enjoy spending time together? I mean, without the, erm, without the sex?"

"Yes. I believe we do. We have not very much in common, but we seem to enjoy sharing. And he makes me laugh."

"On purpose?" You never could tell with Parker, after all. People made her laugh all day long without meaning to at all.

"Sometimes."

"O.k., well, does he appreciate you?" This Sophie was a little curious about in general. How might one go about appreciating Parker so that she noticed, anyhow?

"He brings me things he thinks I'll like; things like maps of museums and other secure facilities for me to look at. And he likes to make sure I'm happy—he makes people like the landlord and the not-nice woman at the dry cleaners apologize to me before I have to threaten them. Oh, and he calls me "pretty"."

Sophie nodded sagely. This was a revelation—Parker had snagged herself a man who seemed to understand her. Well, as much as Parker could be understood, she supposed.

"And do you do things for him, you know, appreciate him back?"

"I try to, I think. Like, I let him drag me to places I don't want to be, just because he asks me to go with him. And last week, I noticed he was having a bad day so I made him macaroni and cheese for dinner."

"Macaroni and cheese?"

"It's the only thing I can make without either ordering out or burning. Plus it's very good macaroni and cheese."

"Of course." Sophie looked at Parker critically, wondering if she should ask her the next question she could think of. She decided to throw caution to the wind. "Well, is the sex good?"

"You wouldn't believe! He does this thing with his tongue on my belly button—"

"No, no, that's enough, Parker. No need for details." Sophie was distinctly uncomfortable knowing anything much about Parker's sex life. God only knew what kinds of kinky things she was into.

"So, what do you think? Am I in a relationship or not?" Parker jumped back to her original question after shaking herself out of what was probably an x-rated memory.

"I would have to say yes, Parker." Parker nodded and smiled gratefully as she rose out of the chair and began to retreat. "But one more question—who's the lucky guy?" Sophie sat back in her chair and took a sip of water from the bottle sitting on her desk.

"Oh, well, Eliot and I started sleeping together shortly after that job with the horses. See you later Sophie." Parker waved and glided out of the office like she was on wheels, while Sophie just stared at her, speechless.

Now she really wanted to know what Eliot could do with his tongue on her belly button that had Parker so damn impressed.


End file.
